


By the Pricking of Your Thumbs

by jju_nyaa



Series: The Parallel [3]
Category: NU'EST
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, architect!2hyun, but not much architecture, except for scale models
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 12:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25969330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jju_nyaa/pseuds/jju_nyaa
Summary: Close to an important deadline, Minhyun super glues his fingers together.[The Parallel - Day 03 - Office AU]
Relationships: Hwang Minhyun & Kim Jonghyun | JR, Hwang Minhyun/Kim Jonghyun | JR
Series: The Parallel [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1886287
Comments: 24
Kudos: 38
Collections: Nu'fics x The Parallel





	By the Pricking of Your Thumbs

**Author's Note:**

> An Office AU for The Parallel Fic Fest by [nufics](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nufics).
> 
> Title from Agatha Christie’s By the Pricking of My Thumbs but has no relation to the plot whatsoever haha.

**— » — « —**

A year into his internship, Hwang Minhyun had grown a huge crush on Kim Jonghyun.

He was a fellow intern in Polaris Studios, an architectural firm where both he and Minhyun had chosen to dedicate their slavery years prior to taking up board exams and hopefully becoming full-fledged architects. There were four of them roped into signing up in the same year — Mingi and Dongho being the other two — and all four of them were admittedly taken in by the charming Kwak Aaron, who was known for his skill in luring unsuspecting architecture graduates into PolStu.

Thankfully, it wasn’t actual slavery, though the hours that the interns end up pouring into the job weren’t any different. The pay was decent, the food was good, and the company actually had space and supplies for overnight needs, for when project deadlines required even the designers to pull up all-nighters.

“Hi, Minhyun,” Jonghyun greeted him one evening after Minhyun returned to the office with his overnight bag for yet another scale model all-nighter. Their deadline was the day after next.

“Hey, Jonghyun,” Minhyun returned, dumping his bag on the nearest surface and taking up his seat on the workbench that he and Jonghyun had been chained to in the past few days.

Jonghyun was the more frequent customer of the sleeping quarters, claiming he was both lazy (to commute) and homeless in alternating breaths. As far as Minhyun knew, Jonghyun lived with Dongho but it seemed, in the past six months, Jonghyun had been lurking in the shadows of the office premises after everyone else had gone home. It was also roughly the same time as when Dongho and Mingi started dating but none of their relationships bore any signs of straining.

Later on, Minhyun found out that Jonghyun had been supportively giving up his roommate rights so that Dongho and Mingi could have some time alone (since Mingi lived with his grandparents), coinciding with the times Minhyun noticed that Jonghyun had stayed over at the office. Jonghyun would also just casually agree with the common assumption that he’s dating his scale models and wouldn’t be parted from them.

Minhyun watched as Jonghyun placed a tiny tree next to another tiny tree, recreating the mini forest that the project developers placed on their site plans. Jonghyun had consulted actual site photos and mapped out which tree goes where — Minhyun loved that about him and was only happy to fashion whatever tree or shrub Jonghyun needed.

Minhyun loved the scale models, too — it was his favorite part of any project — but often he would wish he were a scale model himself so that Jonghyun would pay more attention to him and maybe date him?

It wasn’t as if Jonghyun weren’t ever friendly. He and Minhyun had painstakingly labored together over several models ever since they started at Polaris. With Minhyun’s artistry and Jonghyun’s precision, they made a good pair and had become good friends as well, bonding over art supplies, tiny trees, and due dates.

If only Minhyun could be content with just that but, if Dongho and Mingi could make it work, why wouldn’t they? Then again, Minhyun wouldn’t know if Jonghyun would be up for it — he hadn’t made any attempt to ask. In the several instances that Minhyun had to stay over at the office with Jonghyun, he had contemplated on trying and always, he desisted, thinking it inappropriate in the face of important deadlines.

Minhyun was just pressuring himself unnecessarily but, at the same time, he and Jonghyun had been working on the model for three nights now. This continuous proximity kept him from ignoring the question he wanted to ask Jonghyun, even if he wanted to wait until they finished the model (just in case Jonghyun wasn’t game and things would get awkward between them).

“Minhyun-ah, what are you doing?” Jonghyun asked, alarm in his voice.

Minhyun had to pause from rubbing his fingers together — more like, he couldn’t move his fingers anymore even if he wanted to. He stared at both of his hands, the tips of his fingers feeling like they were being melted as the super glue dried in between them and stuck them together. While Jonghyun shot up from his seat, Minhyun merely blinked at his hands and wondered if he had accidentally dissolved his fingerprints.

Jonghyun was laughing as he sat beside Minhyun and took his hands for inspection. “You’ve glued them really nicely, I’d say,” he remarked in good humor, taking Minhyun’s left hand closer to his eyes.

Jonghyun’s hand was warm. It had paint on it, too, just like Minhyun’s.

“What do I do?” Minhyun asked rather blankly.

“We need to soak your fingers in warm water, wait here,” Jonghyun said after a while, having done a quick consultation with the best emergency doctor available: the internet. Soon, he was off the bench and headed for the pantry.

Minhyun heard the electric kettle being put on. He didn’t want to wait on the bench for Jonghyun and followed him. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure what came over me?” he offered by way of an apology.

Jonghyun simply chuckled. “We both could use a break,” he allowed. The kettle whistled shrilly and Jonghyun took it out, pouring hot water into a basin of lukewarm. He checked the temperature, then took Minhyun’s hand and soaked it in.

Minhyun gasped at the sudden dip, which made him all the more conscious that Jonghyun was right next to him by the sink, holding his hands in the water. Jonghyun was still scrolling through his phone with his other hand.

“Oh, it needs to have a bit of soap,” he muttered absently. Jonghyun pumped the handwash bottle several times and then mixed the soap into the water, though some he directly massaged it on the affected parts of Minhyun’s hands. Reading the last bit of instructions, Jonghyun then dipped his other hand into the water, splashing to mix the soap better.

“Soak them for five to ten minutes, then let’s see,” Jonghyun said, pulling his hands out of the basin and rinsing them on the adjacent sink.

“Jonghyun, don’t leave me,” Minhyun begged the moment he felt Jonghyun was about to return to their work area.

Jonghyun paused to look at him, smiling kindly. “Okay. I’ll fix us some cup ramyeon while you’re soaking,” he decided, rummaging the cabinets for the ramyeon supply.

Minutes later, Jonghyun was feeding himself and Minhyun cheese ramyun out of a large bowl. Minhyun tried his best to be discreetly happy about it but he knew his cheeks, ears, and the back of his neck betrayed him. He and Jonghyun had settled into a relaxed conversation, comprised mostly of gossip about their two dating friends and Aaron-sunbaenim’s current girlfriend.

“I feel a bit bad talking about them,” Minhyun admitted after a while, to which Jonghyun laughed in repentant concurrence.

“Then, let’s talk about you,” Jonghyun said, disposing the empty bowl and chopsticks they used.

“Why is it just me?” Minhyun protested. “Why not you, too? We could talk about us?”

“Us?” Jonghyun echoed, thinking. “Sure. What about us?”

“I— uhh, I mean, you and then me, um, separately.” Minhyun hastened to backtrack.

Jonghyun chuckled. “Let me see your hands, maybe they’re okay now.”

“Okay.”

Minhyun lifted his hands out of the basin and tried moving his fingers apart. Jonghyun closed both hands over them to stop him.

“Gently,” Jonghyun murmured, taking Minhyun’s left hand and massaging two of the stuck fingers together in a rolling motion. Like magic, they popped apart, making both of them gasp in surprise and delight. “That’s so cool, let me do it again,” he said excitedly, taking the next pair of fingers and doing the same thing.

While Jonghyun was busy with his gentle prying of Minhyun’s fingers, Minhyun reached the end of his tether and broke. “Jonghyun, why are you so cute?” he blurted out, his face a bright crimson.

Jonghyun looked up from the hands he was holding and came face to face with Minhyun. “I don’t know,” he answered confusedly. “Is that a pick up line?”

“I… think?”

“Are you maybe… flirting with me?” Jonghyun pried, as gently as he was prying apart Minhyun’s index finger and thumb.

“Is it working?” Minhyun asked lamely.

Jonghyun sighed in relief, although his face was turning a deep shade of red. “I thought you’d never.”

“Really?” Minhyun choked. “Were you waiting?”

“Well, no, more like, I wasn’t sure if I should make a move or wait for you to make a move?” Jonghyun admitted. “I wasn’t sure if you liked me that way or we just worked well together.”

“It could be both,” Minhyun said.

“Could be.” Jonghyun smiled.

A few quiet seconds passed.

“Do you want to date—”

“Do you want to kiss—”

“Oh,” they chorused.

“We, uh, could do both,” Minhyun offered, clearing his throat.

“We could.” Jonghyun agreed.

“Which one do you want to do first?”

Jonghyun laughed suddenly. “We actually need to get back to work but…” and he trailed off, leaning forward to gently press his lips against Minhyun’s, which moved and parted to accommodate him.

Minhyun itched to cup Jonghyun’s cheeks in his hands the way Jonghyun was cradling his face when their kiss grew deeper. “Ow!” he moaned against Jonghyun and pulled away, eyes stinging from the pain on his hands.

“I told you, gently,” Jonghyun scolded him, taking his hands to check if the skin got peeled off by accident. “Sometimes, you’re really just so…”

“Dumb?” Minhyun pouted.

Jonghyun pouted back at him before smiling. “Adorable.”

**— » the end « —**

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'ed. 
> 
> Disclaimer on the accuracy of ungluing super-glued fingers together. Hehe.
> 
> Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
